Google is introducing a music-search feature that details the work of featured artists.

The new feature is prominently placed above the main search results in what Google calls its "one box" area.

When a user enters a music-related search in the Google search box, the resulting scan returns information about the artist, a few albums and a picture, when available, above the standard search results.

A link to more music results leads to user reviews, song titles and a choice of online retailers, including Apple's iTunes, RealNetworks' Rhapsody, eMusic, Amazon and Wal-Mart, the editors of Web-search analysis site SearchEngineWatch.com wrote after a briefing by Google.

For the CD retailers, Google receives data feeds of the inventory and returns a link to a store if the item is available, SearchEngineWatch said.

Google is late to the game with music-search results. Ask Jeeves, MSN and Yahoo have offered music search for some time.

The music-search feature was developed as a side project by a Google engineer.